This invention relates to an absorbent article, such as pantiliners, sanitary napkins, and incontinence pads. More particularly, the present invention relates to absorbent articles that are adaptable for use with different types of underwear.
Currently, absorbent articles for sanitary protection, such as, pantiliners, sanitary napkins, and incontinence pads must fit a variety of individual body shapes and sizes. In particular, women have an almost infinite variety of body shapes and muscle tone in the upper thigh region. A product that offers superior comfort, fit, and protection for one woman may be deficient for another woman due to her body shape and muscle tone.
The availability of different types of underwear also affects the choice of absorbent articles for sanitary protection. For example, conventional pantiliners and napkins are typically designed to be used with underwear having a full sized crotch portion, e.g., briefs and bikinis. However, such conventional pantiliners and napkins attach or fit poorly to underwear having an abbreviated crotch portion, e.g., thong-type or G-string. As a result, many women purchase multiple types of sanitary protection depending on the underwear they choose to wear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,929 (Bien) discloses an absorbent article having removable portions that can reduce the dimensions of the article. The preferred embodiment is a pantiliner that can be adjusted in size by tearing the absorbent article along one or more perforation lines and removing the portions that lie outboard the perforation lines. The resultant pantiliner, however, is designed for conventional underwear having a full sized crotch portion and is not adaptable for thong-type underwear having an abbreviated crotch portion (conventional and thong-type underwear are further discussed below).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,570 (Jackson et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,759 (Johnson) disclose sanitary napkins capable of being elongated. Jackson et al. unfolds pleats at the longitudinal ends and Johnson adds a second absorbent element to a first element. Neither, however, discloses absorbent articles that have a posterior portion that is narrower than the anterior portion and are appropriate for use with thong-type underwear.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D368,519 (Harrison et al.) discloses a pantiliner having a perforated section in the posterior portion. The embodiments shown have posterior portions that are narrower than the anterior portions.
As evident from the above, women often have the expense and bother of purchasing assorted sized products to meet their needs. Often, a woman compromises and chooses only one size even though that selection may be less than ideal.
What is needed, therefore, is an absorbent article that offers sanitary protection and can be comfortable under multiple circumstances, including use with various underwear styles.
This invention relates to an absorbent article that is adaptable for use with different types of underwear, the absorbent article having an absorbent core having a length and a width; a backsheet having a length and a width underlying the absorbent core; and a first perforation line positioned between a first portion of the absorbent article and a second portion of the absorbent article, whereby separation of the first portion from the second portion along the first perforation line provides at least one newly shaped absorbent article wherein the length or width of the absorbent core is shorter and the length or the width of the backsheet is shorter.
Additionally, the absorbent article may include a third portion that may be used as an interlabial device.